In 2022 CamTech University planted a small forest on its campus with the Miyawaki method, as part of its Going Green project. The saplings came through the One Million Tree Project of the KHM Foundation. CamTech shared its report with us. These are our notes from it, for our own planting pilot.

Top view of four one-metre squares, each with four saplings 0.5 m apart and 0.25 m from the square edges: four saplings per square metre. 1 m 1 m 0.5 m 0.25 m

4 per m² · 40,000 per ha

Same spacing as Plot C in our pilot.

CamTech's layout: four saplings in every square metre, about 0.5 m apart.

What they planted

  1. 479200
  2. 305
  3. 290
  4. no figure
  5. 250150
  6. no figure
  7. no figure
  • Trees
  • Flowering plants

1,674 plants: 1,324 trees, 350 flowering

Saplings planted on each date, from CamTech's report.

CamTech received 1,674 plants: 1,324 trees and 350 flowering plants. They went in over several dates as they arrived, starting in the rainy season of 2022. The report lists three later dates with no numbers.

What survived

864 of 1,074

about 80%

Waffle chart: 87 of 108 squares filled, each square about ten trees. 864 of 1074 trees were growing on 9 December 2022.
  • Growing
  • Lost
  • One square is about 10 trees

Flowering plants: all died (the first batch was 200)

Trees growing on 9 December 2022, out of the 1,074 planted from April to August that year.

By 9 December 2022, 864 of the first 1,074 trees were growing. That is about four in five, between three and eight months after planting.

The flowering plants all died. The report puts it down to short-lived species.

CamTech also passed 150 trees to a primary school in Takeo province. All of them were alive.

What we take from it

  1. Four per square metre has been done here. CamTech planted 0.5 m apart, the same as our densest plot. We will learn more by comparing it with two and three per square metre on the same land.
  2. Expect early losses, and count them. About one tree in five was lost in the first months, on a campus with paths and people close by. Our land has fire and no piped water, so we should plan for more losses and budget for replacements.
  3. Plant long-lived species only. Short-lived flowering plants filled space for a season and then died. Every layer in our mix, shrubs included, should be long-lived native woody plants.
  4. Plant in batches through the rainy season. CamTech planted in April, July and August. Smaller batches are easier to water, watch and count.
  5. Saplings can come through a programme instead of a purchase. CamTech's did. We plan to look for a partner in the same way, which is why our sapling budget is a ceiling, not a quote.

What we don't know yet

The report is short. It does not say which species were planted, how the soil was prepared, or how often the trees were watered. It stops counting at the end of 2022. We would like to ask CamTech about these, and how tall the trees are now.